Our schedule during the week was pretty busy, but we had the weekends free. There was so much to do around Tauranga. Here are some of our weekend adventures!
The beach and Mount Monganui were about 20 minutes away from the house and we spent a lot of time there.
Not too bad of a beach ehh?
These are pictures from the top of Mount Monganui which overlooks the beach. There were several trails that you could take up to the top. It was definitely a good work out!
One weekend a friend brought wet suits and surf boards so that we could surf…or attempt it anyway.
Practicing our moves in the sand because that is what good surfers do.
Wendy got some great action shots of the boys doing their "tricks." Surprisingly, there were no broken bones.
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The first weekend we were there, Nathan, one of the staff members took us out to Gideon's Waterfall. YWAM has a base out here. It was really nice.
Gabe was brave enough to get in the cold water.
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Emmanuel and Mary Joy live in New Zealand permanently and took us to this river where we could do some cliff jumping.
Emmanuel
Tim
David
Nathan
Mary Joy
Hannah
Julia
Me
David doing a back flip…craziness!
Tim, Emmanuel, Hannah, Mary Joy, David, Me, Julia
The boys being ridiculous.
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One weekend several of us went hiking in the Papamoa Hills.
There were lots of sheep along the way.
That is Mount Monganui in the background.
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Kaikate Falls was my favorite place to cliff jump. It was a beautiful hike and an amazing waterfall.
Tim
Julia
Tim jumping through the middle of the waterfall.
Nathan
Me
Mount Monganui in the background.
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Kiwis (people from New Zealand) do not celebrate Thanksgiving, but we had enough Americans and a few others who wanted to celebrate with us to get together and have a big Thanksgiving dinner.
Thanksgiving in NZ looks a lot like it does in the states…
Lots of food...
Naps...
and friends and family...
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There were 4 students that came from International House of Prayer University that were on the intern staff. They left about a week or so before we did, so they had a big going away BBQ for them. The community here is made up of people involved in YWAM (Youth with a Mission), THOP, and Hope Centre which is a local church. It is a small, close knit, amazing community.
Of course we had some great games of volleyball going on.
The boys played some tackle football and I got some good action shots.
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Thomas and Lizzy met here in NZ through YWAM and we all had the privilege of getting to know them and attend their wedding ceremony. It was beautiful!
Thomas is from Houston, Texas. What are the odds that I would attend a fellow Texan's wedding in New Zealand??
My roomies!
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While we were there Tim celebrated his 21st birthday. We had lots of ice cream, pumpkin pie, and tons of hilarious pictures.
